R. Kelly‘s literacy issues have been called into question for years, and even more so when the imprisoned singer attempted to use it as a legal defense to abstain from paying the alleged victims who appeared in the “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries.
But his ex-wife, Drea Kelly, recently confirmed she was the one who taught him how to read during a sit-down with host Osei Kweku on “The Culture Club Uncensored.”
The “I Believe I Can Fly” singer revealed in court documents earlier this year that he “cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade schooler.”
R. Kelly was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking in New York back in 2023. He was also convicted of producing child pornography and enticing a minor into criminal sexual activity in Chicago, and the 57-year-old was sentenced to serve a combined 50 years in prison.
During the interview, the former “Hollywood Exes” star confirmed that her ex-husband has said he had been molested by both a man and a woman as a child. Drea believes he repeated the actions from his past which led to other struggles such as reading to their three children, Jay, Joann, and Robert Jr.
(22:44)“I think it stems from his childhood, being molested by a man and a woman,” she said. “Dealing with illiteracy, not being able to read.”
“Sitting with him and I remember going through a Dr. Suess book, and he gets out of the bed and he goes in the hallway,” Drea continued. “He just transformed into this little boy right before my eyes, and I’m like, ‘What’s going on? Like, it’s just — we’re just reading stories to the kids. What’s going on?'”
She explained that the “I Wish” singer didn’t want his children to know that he couldn’t read.
R Kelly can’t read is killing me right now 😭
— ctrl-J ✰ (@thatsjessicaa) May 5, 2024
“He said, ‘Drea, I don’t want to do that in front of them,’ and I said ‘But why?’ He was like, ‘I can’t read to them what’s in that book. I don’t want my kids to know I can’t read.’ I said, ‘But, Robert, what you have to understand is they can’t read either. You are magical in here. Make up the story as you go. I’ll help you sound it out,’ and literally, I was teaching him to read through Dr. Seuss books.”
Kelly added that she feels that trying to help her ex learn to read created a “love-hate” relationship with the recording artist.
“But I feel that it was a ‘love-hate’ relationship because he would use that against me at times. He would also say, ‘Oh you think you better than me ’cause you can read.’ So, I think he always had a love-hate relationship with me.”
The 50-year-old choreographer and her ex married in 1996, but she filed for divorce in 2006, which was finalized three years later. She confirmed that she was the victim of physical and verbal abuse for years during their marriage and was even hogtied by the “Bump n’ Grind” artist before he fell asleep.
Drea added that she was afraid for her life of Mr. Kelly and even recalls thinking “I’m gonna die” after he once “hog-tied” her in their bedroom. She details more about the marriage and her personal life in her upcoming memoir, “Under the Red Carpet.”
